Terry Dodson: Arachnophile

By Mike Jozic & Sylvain Lebleu

For my money, Terry Dodson and Mark Millar are responsible for putting together the only Spider-Man title that’s worth taking the time out to read. The fledgling series is only two issues in as of this writing, but already it shows a heck of a lot of promise. Their Marvel Knights version of the ol’ webslinger has got everything a good Spider-Man story needs - human drama, a dash of humour, and most importantly, character - and I think a lot of the credit for that should go to Terry’s wonderful linework and attention to detail. Also, Millar’s grittier approach to the series has provided Dodson the opportunity to showcase a slightly darker side to his work that fans of his usual cheesecake style of art may be unaccustomed to seeing.

Sylvain Lebleu and I got a chance to chat with Terry shortly before the first issue of Spider-Man hit the stands, gabbing about the current series, his working relationship with his wife Rachel, and his upcoming project from Humanoids, Coraline.

SYLVAIN LEBLEU: How did you get the job on Spider-Man with Mark Millar?

TERRY DODSON: While we were starting the Trouble mini, I believe Axel mentioned Mark had a big Spider-Man project in mind. Axel likes to plan out long range and he's already talking ideas for me after Spider-Man.

LEBLEU: Right now, Marvel is flooding the market with more than five Spider-Man titles and countless guest-star appearances and minis. Would you prefer to draw a lesser-used character instead of Spider-Man, making your work stand out instead of running the risk of having it be just another drop in the Spider-Man ocean?

DODSON: I wouldn't do a Spider-Man story if it was just OK, and there is too much Spider-Man stuff out there - but there is a little film called Spider-Man 2 coming out in June and I believe Marvel wants plenty of material out there for people to buy.

However, Mark's come up with a great story for Spider-Man and it's worth working on.

MIKE JOZIC: Mark has said his reason for doing the Spider-Man series is that he feels he has something different to say with the character. Artistically, are your motives for taking the assignment similar to Mark’s?

DODSON: Yes, I've been of fan of Spider-Man since I was young and I feel I can bring something different to a character that has been around for 40 years.

LEBLEU: This is the second project you’ve worked on with Mark. How is it to work with him?

DODSON: Great, apart from picking him up on the bar room floor to put him back at computer! Mark has written some really great stuff for this Spider-Man series that are fun to draw and I think people will really get a kick out of it.

JOZIC: Mark is supposed to be taking a harder, grittier approach to the stories in the new Spidey book, something I wouldn’t normally associate with your drawing style. How will that be reflected in the artwork? What will you be doing differently?

DODSON: I just try to do what each script dictates. In general I lean toward the more "fun" aspects of things, but I find doing things in a grittier manner can be just as satisfying. With Spider-Man it's been a little difficult to maintain the harder, grittier approach because he's a wise cracking character by nature but I'm trying to rein that aspect in a bit. Obviously I will use more dramatic lighting, etc, and it's amazing what this does to the art. Plus more horizontal, cinematic storytelling, with fewer breaking of panel borders.

Mostly it's the attitude.

LEBLEU: How do you prepare yourself for drawing a character that so many legendary artists have made their name with?

DODSON: A lot of sketches and a lot of thinking, looking and seeing what I like and don't like by other artists. Fortunately I’ve had a taste of Spidey before, with the Spider-Man/Black Cat mini.

JOZIC: Speaking of which, I’ve heard murmurings about Kevin coming back to finish Spidey/Black Cat. What’s the status of that series right now?

DODSON: We are all waiting for the script.

JOZIC: How long have you and Rachel committed to working on the new series?

DODSON: 12 issues, for now. My goal with this 12 issue arc it's put into a trade is to be able to sit back and look at it and not see mistakes or rushed pages, just my best work on every page and panel.

LEBLEU: What do you find is the greatest challenge in drawing a Spider-Man title?

DODSON: Giving people what they want and yet doing something new and exciting with all the characters and situations.

LEBLEU: Do you think that the Spider-Man costume needs some tweaking after almost 60 years?

DODSON: No, and hey it's only 43 years!

LEBLEU: Will you get the chance to use your own design for the supporting cast or some of the villains during your run on Spider-Man?

DODSON: Yes, I will be doing minor tweaks to everybody, mostly things that are very subtle. For the most part, all the current designs for the characters are terrific and Spidey's costume is an untouchable classic. But even with him there are the size of the eyes, number of webs, etc. I thought Humberto did an awesome redesign on Green Goblin and I just drew it in my style. Others will have major overhauls but trying to keep in the spirit of the character so as not to cause too much grief for the long time readers. Basically, just trying to make everything look as good as I can!

JOZIC: How far ahead are you and Rachel on the art? Will there be a healthy buffer between when the book is released and the issue you guys are on at the time?

DODSON: Not as far ahead as I would like. Mark writes a busy script and there are tons of things to draw and I don't want to take shortcuts on this book, so I'm taking longer than planned. Frank Cho is helping out by doing issue #5, which is a real coup. Frank and I are fans of each other's stuff so it's great to be able to work together. I think Frank will bring something new to the book and still keep it similar enough to what I do that there won't be any disruption for the reader.

JOZIC: I’ve also heard that you’re using photo reference for this series. Does that slow the process down or speed it up?

DODSON: With every drawing I do I always start all my work out of my head and then use reference to correct the drawings. I'm using the photo-reference to simply enhance my drawings and storytelling. So this allows me to speed up instead of doing wrong drawings and having to go back and correct them. I'm not a slave to the photos, I use them as reference!

Also, with New York, specifically, I feel it's a supporting cast member. I want to make New York as important as Mary Jane for example. I tried to do the same thing on Harley Quinn with Gotham City. In this particular case, the city exists in real life and the reader will know when I make a mistake so I'm trying to avoid that. I don't have the liberty I did with Gotham to just do whatever I wanted but then again, I never had a real city to use for reference in Gotham like I will for New York. I think New York has just tons of great stuff to draw and again a lot of this goes back to comics I enjoyed as a kid and having New York be a big part of them like in Spider-Man and Fantastic Four.

I always try to draw things to "feel" realistic then simplify down, so the art is readable without feeling photo realistic. Also I think now with so many people exposed to the movie version of Spider-Man it’s important to provide a nice connection between the comic and the movie, each has it's own strengths but we shouldn’t make it difficult for new readers to be able to understand the Spider-Man comic if their only exposure to Spider-Man is from the movie.

LEBLEU: Some people classify you as a “cheesecake” artist, a style that contributes to certain stereotypes of the medium as a whole. What would be your response to that criticism?

DODSON: I'm proud to be called a cheesecake artist, some of my favorite artists are! However, I think if you take a look at the first issue of Spider-Man it would be hard to classify as simply a "cheesecake" artist. Regarding female characters, I really try to give each their own look and appropriate - "ahem" - set of attributes. Mary Jane, for example, is a Hollywood starlet and supermodel, so I picture her being taller, leaner, and less busty. Not as busty as Black Cat. I think I have drawn her so far without any cleavage, for example.

LEBLEU: With you drawing all those beautiful women, does your wife Rachel make you sleep on the couch every once in a while?

DODSON: Remember, I try to draw beautiful women not porn stars, big difference. No, she understands it's comic books, it's cartooning. I try to draw beautiful women, handsome men, heinous villains, cool cars, tall buildings, etc. It's comics and I just try to push everything to the nth degree.

JOZIC: You and Rachel are one of a few Husband/Wife teams like Miller and Varley, Walt and Weezie Simonson and Mike and Laura Allred. What kind of dynamic do you guys have work-wise?

DODSON: I pencil and she inks. We work in the same studio. It's pretty good sized so we have our own space but are still able to communicate easily. Fortunatley we like most of the same music, tv, radio, movies etc, so there are very few problems in that realm. It's great to be able to check on what she is doing or vice versa, and she has a problem with a drawing she has no problem with bringing it over to me to correct it.

JOZIC: Do you find that you get better results from your inker knowing you have a little pull in that department?

DODSON: I started penciling extremely tight so that anybody could ink the work. But now, she knows exactly what I want, so there isn't the need to be so tight in my finished work and I can concentrate more on just doing looser, more lifeful drawings, etc.

Rachel has been inking my work for over 6 years straight so we have things pretty well figured out. Rachel knows what I like and she stays true to what I put down on the page. It's the closest I can get to inking myself. However, she is not a slave to what I draw and will improve upon some things.

There's nothing like being able to work with your inker in the same room as it makes for a much better finished product.

LEBLEU: What is the hardest thing you would say you ever had to draw?

DODSON: The human figure. I've been working on it for 33 years and I'm still learning!

LEBLEU: Drawing beautiful women is something you really excel at. Did you ever consider creating some adult-oriented material to appeal a new type of audience, like Avatar is trying to do with their Vivid Girls comic?

DODSON: I have no problem drawing nudity or even sex, if it's relevant to the story, however I have no interest in doing an all out sex comic. I'm a fan of pinup art which is more about the tease than "full reveal". The more left to the imagination the better. Again I much more interested in the beautiful, ideal, etc and I would find it hard to do this with "adult-oriented material". Now doing mature material - meaning material that may require more intellect and mature point of view - as opposed to doing "adult-oriented material" - meaning pornography - I wouldn't have a problem with as long as it is relevant to the story.

LEBLEU: Trouble was obviously not the success Marvel was hoping for, as evidenced by the trade being cancelled. How do you react to a situation like that?

DODSON: Trouble was a project I did as a favor to Joe Q, so as much as I would have liked to have seen it better received, it wasn't something I was "dying " to do or had high expectations for.

LEBLEU: I also read that you had signed with Humanoids Publishing to do a graphic novel called Coraline, but it’s been a while since I saw anything new about this project. Will it be seeing a release in the near future?

DODSON: No, not with all the time it takes to draw a monthly like Spider-Man. However I have drawn 31 out of the 54 pages so far. I feel like it is easily the best work that I have done so I hope to get it done so people can see it.

LEBLEU: Besides your Spider-Man book with Mark, do you have any new projects coming up?

DODSON: Yes!

JOZIC: Can you elaborate on that a bit?

DODSON: That's all I can say for now.

LEBLEU: Which artists are an inspiration to you?

DODSON: Adam Hughes, Michael Golden, Travis Charest, Carlos Pacheco, Masamune Shirow (both his manga and art books) Frank Frazetta, Gil Elvgren, both the Disney and Bruce Timm school of animation and design, Leyendecker, Rockwell, Mucha, JS Sargent, European artists Claire Wendling, Juan Guarnido (Blacksad), Barbucci (Sky Doll), plus old schoolers like Milt Caniff and Alex Toth.

Plus a bunch of guys working today too numerous to mention. It's a great time for comic fans now, so much good stuff out there.

LEBLEU: Beside the paycheck, what is the most important factor for you in order to accept a job?

DODSON: Simple, a good story.

JOZIC: To cap the interview off, what project or character, if any, remains an unfulfilled ambition for you in the industry?

DODSON: Doing creator material, just to see what it's like to do my own stuff.

For those who want to see more of Terry's stuff while his website is being remodeled including pencils, inks, colors, conventions sketches and Easter Eggs from the first issue of Spider-Man, go to the Terry Dodson Art Appreciation Yahoo! Group.

	Sylvain Lebleu is a recent addition to the stable of SBC writers hailing from the icy wastes of Canada. When not interviewing comic book creators or writing the What Looks Good complement for the site, he operates in his secret identity as a mild mannered computer programmer. Mike Jozic has spent the last several years interviewing comic book creators and other entertainment related personalities for various publications. He has been published both online and in print, with his work appearing in The Comics Journal, FearsMag.com and Silver Bullet Comicbooks. He maintains his own website at www.meanwhile.net and currently serves as the Features Editor for SBC.